Chapter Text
When he is brought into the monastery, people mostly stay away because a fire bringer, although rare and prized— are also greatly feared, plus their small state doesn't know what to do with him. However, the kingdoms are still at war and he is a great addition to the troops, but he is still young and inexperienced and there is no one to train him in their poor state. Yoongi doesn't know what's going to happen to the fire bringer, he just pities his fate if the rumors are anything to go by.
Yoongi mostly only sees glances of the lanky boy’s back from a distance because Yoongi so busy helping out around the monastery, however, he sees that he is always alone. The other boys are afraid of the fire bringer, and even the adults are wary. The first time Yoongi ever really gets to meet the fire bringer face to face is when the boy injures himself, and the nuns send Yoongi to his room with food. They don’t specify how the boy managed to injure himself, but Yoongi does not ask because he guesses as a fire bringer, one must have a lot of dangerous duties to partake in.
When he gets to the lonely room at the end of the hallway, Yoongi has heard so many rumors at this point that he loathes to say that he is shaking a bit in his cotton shoes as he knocks on the door and hears a quiet ‘come in’. He takes a deep breath as he pops his head into the room and sees the fire bringer looking away from him and out the open window next to his bed.
“Um, I brought food.” Yoongi says hesitantly, and the other boy nods unconsciously and sighs.
“Thank you,” He says before he turns to look at him and Yoongi stops mid step.
And well… for all the rumors of the fire bringer being a scary force of destruction and misery, this boy is anything but. He looks as painfully young as he is, being a boy of only eleven years with such a heavy morbid title. Yoongi feels bad for him, because really, the fire bringer has a thin lanky frame and soft pretty eyes that hide behind shiny brown hair. His lips are pink and full and his cheeks are still as round as a child's usually are— Yoongi himself has not lost the fat in his face. Overall, the fire bringer is really, truly, very beautiful, and Yoongi immediately feels his apprehension and fear fade into admiration and something of a small crush.
“You can bring it here.” The boy says softly, and even his voice is so gentle Yoongi thinks. If all the adults hadn’t said so, Yoongi would never believe this boy is the one to control the power of fire.
“I, sure.” Yoongi stammers and walks over, gently setting the tray on the fire bringers lap and the boy smiles sweetly up at him, and brings a heavily bandaged hand to the food, wincing as he picks up a piece of bread.
Yoongi stares at the injury before pointing out the obvious. “That looks painful.” he says and then apologizes because he is sure the fire bringer is very well aware of the pain he is in. However, the other boy just laughs cutely and shakes his head.
“No, it’s alright.” He replies, and it looks like he would like to say more, but he just keeps quiet and goes back to silently eating.
Yoongi should honestly be heading back to his own duties now too, but he is curious and he would like to know how the fire bringer hurt himself so he waits for a second before he tentatively asks his question.
“Um…” He begins and the boy looks over at him, surprised to see him still there. “If it isn't too forward of me to ask fire-bringer…” He begins and the boy shakes his head wildly quickly swallowing his food and talking.
“Oh no no go ahead. And just Seokjin is fine, or Seokjin Hyung, I'm not sure how old you are.” He asks tilting his head to the side like a curious cat, and Yoongi smiles.
“I think you might be older, you are eleven correct fire bringer?”, and the boy nods. “Seokjin Hyung then.” Yoongi says smiling and the other boy looks surprised at first before his face breaks into a sunny grin.
“If it isn't rude of me to impose… Hyung. May I ask how you got your hands injured.” He questions and Seokjin’s glowy face immediately drops and Yoongi berates himself for ruining the other boy's mood.
“I’m sorry,” He says quickly. “I didn't mean to upset you.” but Seokjin just waves a bandaged hand dismissing the comment and smiles sadly at him.
“It’s alright, I know you meant no harm... um... sorry I didn't catch your name.” He says confusedly and Yoongi quickly chimes in.
“Yoongi!” he says a little too loudly and Seokjin laughs much to Yoongi’s relief.
“Yes Yoongi-ssi, It’s alright. I just burned my hands while practicing fire.” He says and Yoongi looks at him in alarm.
“You mean your fire burns you?” Yoongi asks surprised and Seokjin nods sadly as the younger boy feels sorry. “I'm sorry I didn't know… Do all fire bringers get burned? I heard some can set their whole bodies on fire when they awaken their true powers? Do they get burned then too?” He asks, and Yoongi knows he’s being nosy and annoying but he’s really curious, and Seokjin Hyung seems to like his company so he feels okay asking.
“Oh no if you can handle your powers then you won't be burned. However the power of fire is temperamental and If you cannot control it and take care of it properly, it retaliates.” he says and Yoongi stares at Seokjin in awe.
“So your fire is like a person? It can feel things?” He asks on the edge of his seat and Seokjin shakes his head.
“Not quite… I would describe it more as it’s just raw power with a sole drive. It understands things and is knowing and aware, and it's linked to my feelings so whatever I feel it feels too. Hence if I am scared, my fire will turn on me, because it is a power only effective if the owner is brave and confident. However, if you show cowardice the power becomes corrupted and you are unable to wield it. It's like a weapon you could say. If for example, you hold a sword incorrectly it can cause you injury.” Seokjin explains and Yoongi stares in awe at first before he yells out ‘cool!’ and Seokjin is startled before he laughs.
“I feel like you might have been better suited to my fire than me Yoongi.” Seokjin says and Yoongi pauses because burning flames entice him, but there's something about a secret strength hiding behind Seokjin’s eyes that make him believe that Seokjin is very suited for the power he possesses already. Even at age ten, Yoongi knows fire would not claim a person on a whim and who does not hold potential.
“Don't say that Hyung. I'm sure you will learn to harness your fire… I’m sure of it.” he says, and Seokjin gives a tentative smile and Yoongi smiles back at him full watt. “Plus Hyung if you ever need help I will help you! Call for me, because I can control water and I can help smother out your flames if they ever try to hurt you again.” he says, and Seokjin looks at him in surprise.
“You control water?” Seokjin asks and Yoongi smiles and nods at him.
Water isn’t a rare talent like fire by any means, it's uncommon, but the city definitely isn't lacking in water bearers. Yoongi just recently discovered his abilities but no one seems to be too interested in helping him hone it. Water, unlike fire, was a gentle power grounded in the arts of healing and peace, and if it is left untapped, it is a power that can recede and slowly fade away— unlike fire that gets more and more wild and consumes the owner if one even considers ignoring it. Yoongi shudders thinking of Seokjin going up in flames
“I actually wasn't planning on practicing it.” Yoongi says but then twiddles his thumbs shyly. “But I'll practice so that if you ever need me, I can help you.” he says blushing and Seokjin looks dumbfounded before a soft smile breaks out over his face. He is about to say something but then stops and nods instead.
“Alright, i'll hold you to it.” he beams, and Yoongi nods enthusiastically
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When Yoongi eventually gets called down, he helps do some more chores and one of the nuns Yoongi really likes comes over and cards soft fingers through his hair.
“My dear Yoongi what took you so long?” She asks and Yoongi smiles at her.
“Oh sister Soojung! I was delivering food to the fire bringer!” Yoongi exclaims loudly and Nun Soojung shushes him gently asking him to bring his voice down, before engaging him again.
“That's nice dear. Seokjin is still new to the monastery so he does not have many friends yet. Play with him and help him get used to life here okay?” She encourages and Yoongi nods enthusiastically.
“No problem sister Soojung! We have already gotten really close! He asked me to call him Hyung today, and we even talked about his fire, and I even promised him that if he needed help I would start practicing my water so that I could put out his fire before it hurt him again—” Yoongi is saying and suddenly sister Soojung crouches down to his level and grabs his shoulders in a tight grip.
“Yoongi my sweet child I must tell you something and promise me you will listen well.” She says voice grave, and Yoongi immediately quiets looking confused but nodding slowly. “My dear, Seokjin’s fire is something you should not bring up and discuss amongst yourselves, let the adults handle that matter. The more you entwine yourself in the problems that surround his powers, the more I fear for you my dear. Do you understand?” She asks and Yoongi is incredibly confused, but he nods yes hesitantly.
“Also I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news Yoongi, but fire is not a power that succumbs to water. It is too strong a force to go head to head with such a gentle power.” Sister Soojung informed him and wow now Yoongi felt really bummed as she patted his head gently.
“I'm sorry, but i'm sure you and Seokjin can find other things to do and play right?” She asked and Yoongi nodded glumly.
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Later that day Yoongi sat by the lake because his powers were stronger there and he brought some water out of the pond but couldn't control it and he felt the force leave his control and fall back into the pond with a big splash, also wetting him in the process and Yoongi sighed.
He felt terrible because he had promised Seokjin he would master water to help him, and here he was sitting by the pond side, a liar, and he didn't even know how to tell Seokjin after the older had looked at him so gently.
Yoongi hated everything and he lay on his back as Jungkook waddled over to him.
“Hyung.” the boy said in his childish voice and Yoongi leaned over and grabbed for him bringing the small boy close to himself and smushing him to his chest as Jungkook cried out. “Hyung you're squishing me!” He yelled and Yoongi sighed but let him go.
“Sorry, Jungkook you're just so cute I couldn't help it.” He deadpanned and Jungkook frowned as he quickly crawled away and out of reach of his Hyung, frowning disapprovingly at him.
“Not cute.” He said and Yoongi couldn't help but crack a smile at the boy’s tiny lip jutting out.
“Whatever you say.” Yoongi smiled and rolled over on his back stretching like a cat before flopping into the grass again and Jungkook watched him quizzically.
“What are you doing here Hyung?” the boy asked and Yoongi looked over at him frowning and then sighing loudly.
“What does it look like I'm doing Jungkook? I'm moping,” he said and the little boy looked even more confused.
“why?” He asked and Yoongi sighed again.
“Because I made a promise I can't keep.” Yoongi said and he looked over to see Jungkook deep in thought.
“Why can't you keep it?” The boy eventually asked and Yoongi was looking at the sky now and he felt his tummy turn.
“Because sister Soojung said I can’t.” He replied sadly and Jungkook finally decided to crawl back over to him and then threw both hands onto his chest and Yoongi let out a loud oomph and saw Jungkook looking at him as seriously as a six-year-old can look.
“Well.” the little boy began, “I think if you have already made a promise then you should keep it, no matter what anyone says. You don't usually keep promises unless you mean them anyways… right, Hyung? I know you don’t. So I think if you want to keep it you should keep it.” Jungkook said and then sat back on his haunches and looked at Yoongi as he processed his words.
Jungkook was surprisingly right. Yoongi had made a promise and it might be impossible, but Yoongi had to at least try to keep it. And even if he couldn't completely put out Seokjin’s flames, maybe he could at least help? He thought and nodded to himself. Jungkook was right, Yoongi couldn't just give up like this and then he looked over at Jungkook and hugged him, once again squishing him and sandwiching him between himself and the ground as Jungkook shrieked.
After that Yoongi works harder to practice controlling his water, it's a difficult task though without a trainer or guide, and especially for him, because water is such a gentle power and Yoongi is very hard-headed and stubborn. He still takes lunch up to Seokjin though so he brings it up to the older one day as he pouts.
“I can barely hold a sphere of water for a second before it falls and douses me in cold pond water.” He complains and Seokjin laughs at him.
“Don't laugh Hyung. One time, I even had a fish flop into my hair. “ he pouts, but that just has Seokjin wheezing harder than before until he finally calms down and controls himself.
“Yoongi, the most important things about our abilities is that we have to feel them. Remember when you asked me if my power was like a human and I said it wasn't but that it still felt and connected to me like one?” And Yoongi nods. “Well, we have to connect and understand the energy and flow behind our powers in order to harness them. The better we can meditate and understand, the more we will be able to control it.“ Seokjin said and Yoongi nodded trying to process the information.
After that, Yoongi went to the pond again the next day to practice. While making another small sphere of water and trying to understand the energy, he didn't feel or sense anything at first and Yoongi was about to march up to Seokjin’s room and ask him about if he was pulling Yoongi's leg, but just then he really focused and he could kind of feel it. The undercurrent that ran with the water, gentle currents of energy rolling around in the sphere he had made and Yoongi focused on the feeling. Before he knew it he had been holding the ball for well over a minute, however, as he got excited the sphere burst and the water landed on his head again. but Yoongi didn't mind it this time, he was just excited to be making small progress.
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It gives Yoongi the courage to practice again and again, and he spends time from his daily chores every day to learn how to control his water and then he goes to visit Seokjin to tell him of his progress. Seokjin has also been healing well, and the burns he received weren’t too severe so by the third week Seokjin is up and out of bed.
The nuns leave Yoongi in charge of Seokjin, and Yoongi shows Seokjin the ropes around the monastery.
“It's not a lot of work,” Yoongi says the first morning Seokjin is left to him and Yoongi is showing him the work he does around the place, “In the mornings I help the sisters set the table for breakfast, and then I help the younger kids make their beds and do their chores. And I also have my own chores after that. I feed the cattle, gather the eggs from chickens, fold laundry, and finally sweep the halls.” he says coming to a stop, standing in front of the taller boy and Seokjin claps his hands marveling.
“Wow, Yoongi! You do so much!” he exclaims genuinely in admiration and Yoongi can’t help but puff his chest out a bit.
“Nah I just help out a little.” he stutters and goes red.
Yoongi shows Seokjin the ropes around the place all morning— having a companion to help him do chores is a lot more fun and easier than doing them himself. After that, every morning the both of them team up to do all the chores and take care of the younger ones. The sisters praise them for being such good helpers, and Seokjin also uses the fact that the younger kids are afraid of him for being the fire bringer to his advantage by quickly making them do their of chores as he giggles quietly. Yoongi laughs because the other kids are so afraid of Seokjin and he used to be too, but after getting to know the older boy he realizes how Seokjin can’t even crush an ant without being sorry.
Yoongi realizes he smiles a lot more than he used to. He has been an orphan since before he even knew what the word meant. Sister Victoria tells him that she found him just at two months old on the monastery’s front door step.
Yoongi however, never really minded being an orphan that much because even if he had no parents, he still lived a good life. All the sisters looked after him and the other boys the best they could— and even if they were strict sometimes they were mostly like any other guardian, listening to them and caring for them. On top of that, all the other boys at the monastery were like his brothers. He had been here all his life, and because the monastery was still fairly new he was the oldest and had been here the longest and so all the other boys looked up to him. Well, sometimes— Jungkook didn't but Yoongi was also fond of Jungkook who he really felt was like a younger brother to him, complete with annoying younger brother tendencies like disobeying him and annoying him. Yoongi also felt some camaraderie in the younger. Yoongi had been here since the first year this monastery had opened and Jungkook wasn't the first child to be there but he was the first baby. Kids mostly above the age of three or four were left here after their parents had been killed in the war, but Jungkook was the first baby in a long time that they got. The state they lived in was a state with mostly small villages in a hilly territory, there weren't a lot of people and even less orphaned ones, so getting a baby was rare. Yoongi remembers his four-year-old self-being amazed by the small child and he had promised to protect and be like an older brother to Jungkook, taking him under his wing.
So really Yoongi is satisfied. However, Yoongi won't lie and say that when he sees mother and father's with their children in the markets— kissing chubby cheeks and holding hands tight as they guide their children through the crowds— that he doesn’t feel a profound sense of loneliness.
Seokjin and Jungkook take that away, though. Jungkook with his cute grins when he latches onto Yoongi’s leg and Seokjin with his calming presence and when they both spend hours upon hours talking and playing— Yoongi decides he wants Jungkook and Seokjin to be his family.
Another day, Yoongi finally shows Seokjin and Jungkook the results of all the effort he has been putting in, and he makes a sphere of water to show the two. Elated by their responses but also trying to concentrate so he won’t drop the ball, literally.
Jungkook squeals and goes closer to look and Seokjin claps his hands. “Marvelous Yoongi! You held it for almost three minutes there.” Seokjin says as Yoongi slowly lowers the sphere back into the water. “I think you have amazing potential.” Seokjin says smiling at him and Yoongi blushes.
“Well, I would like to, for you Hyung.” Yoongi says embarrassed before Jungkook starts jumping around him clapping.
“Again! Again!” He exclaims.
Three months come and go like that
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Yoongi is coming back from helping the younger orphans take a bath. Seokjin is still there washing them, while Yoongi decided he would start on sweeping. He’s passing the hallway when he ends up overhearing Sister Luna and Sister Victoria whispering to each other.
“He’s just a boy, who gave word to the capitol about this? I thought only the state was informed.” Sister Victoria demanded. As the oldest Sister, she was the scariest but only when she was mad.
“From the telegram Sungmin sent, he said a rat planted by the capitol hiding in the upper houses of the state informed them, but they don’t know who it is.” Sister Luna whispered back.
“That still doesn’t explain why they want the fire bringer when he is still a child. They usually don’t take them until they are of age and partially trained, and Seokjin just barely passed the age of ten, what use could they possibly find for a child barely out of boyhood in war?”
Sister Luna was quiet for a second before she let out a sigh. “It seems they would like to train him from childhood sister. The recent fire bringers in history have not been as complacent as the capitol would like and they want a fire bringer they can…”
“Whose thinking they can alter from a young age to follow their every command?” Sister Victoria finished for her and Sister Luna looked forlornly at the ground.
“Is there nothing Sir Sungmin can do to change their minds, Sister Luna? Fire bringers are dangerous, they must have their morals intact and the ability to choose how to use their powers. If Seokjin becomes a thoughtless puppet— one whose power is controlled at the beck and call of the tyrants at the capitol, who knows what destruction he could bring.”
Sister Luna sighs, “I sent a telegram back, but I am unsure my Lady. There's only so much state officials can do in front of the power of the capitol. If Sungmin refuses they will just take Seokjin by force and punish anyone who does not comply with them. The end result would be the same.”
Sister Victoria let out a troubled sigh. “Seokjin dearest, you have brought about much trouble for yourself my love.” She whispered out and Yoongi was holding his breath.
He was still hiding behind the door and although his ten-year-old mind didn't catch all that was said in the exchange, he certainly understood that Seokjin might be leaving, and if he did it wouldn't be a good thing. Seokjin might be forced to do terrible things and suddenly Yoongi’s stomach knotted in on itself and he was afraid. He never wanted harm to come to Seokjin and he didn't want him to be sent away. Most of all he didn't want Seokjin to be sent to a bad place where he would be sad.
Yoongi didn’t know who to talk to, though. If he asked the sisters they would be disappointed in him for eavesdropping, and he doubted they could really help. Also he didn't want to bring this up to Seokjin and worry him, so he bottled it up and kept it to himself trying to figure out what he could do. He knew Sir Sungmin came to visit Sister Luna from time to time and Sister Luna had mentioned how Sir Sungmin knew about this so Yoongi decided he would ask him when he came. Sir Sungmin had known Yoongi since he came to the orphanage and he doted on him a lot. Yoongi had to figure out what was going on.